A friend suggested I post some reviews of some underappreciated and under-rated material for GM's Day this year, so here's the Savage Worlds edition of Peacekeepers. Although it has some flaws (see below) it also has an interesting take on the "villains save the world" scenario that we have seen in other comic book RPGs for some time, including the Savage Worlds Necessary Evil campaign. As in those other campaigns, an existential threat arises from space, and former villains and heroes must put aside their differences to save the Earth.

However, Peacekeepers brings some unique elements to the table: the "lead" villain who put a crimp in the alien's attack plans is, unknowingly, a robot created by a mad scientist, who serves as her "science advisor". Her past isn't actually mysterious - it's just missing. Since one of the elements of a story of this kind is learning about the backgrounds and being paranoid about the true intentions of your comrades-in-arms, this information is extremely well-suited to this kind of scenario. Plus, I'm a sucker for any T.O. Morrow references I can work into my game.

The alien invasion is for a very good reason - a mysterious ane extremely powerful artifact which the aliens revere as a religious item. The aliens themselves are revered by a cult of collaborators here on Earth, a different type of quisling that we don't normally see. All in all, it's a unique setup. There's some attention to a supporting cast (the American President, the characters' "voice in the headset lady") which is extremely practical and ties in well to the concepts of the setting.

The flaws in Peacekeepers fall where it fails to embrace its identity. There's a superheroic adventure generator section which doesn't advance the core questions of the setting at all - it's just a regular superhero scenario maker. Fine for what it is, but not interesting in the context of Peacekeepers. Similarly, the scenarios offered don't really connect to the core conflict of the world at all. They're just regular superhero scenarios. I guess that's fine, but it raises questions about why we're doing these things when an existential threat still looms. The villains and heroes similarly don't really fit in. Finally, although the game raises ideas about what might happen in other parts of the world than the typical "Big American City" of superhero comics, there's very little detail given to them, which often lends itself to stereotypes. Better to use that space to detail how to research and come up with interesting and compelling scenarios on my own in those areas, if you can't fit all the details in.

Overall, Peacekeepers is worth checking out for the information about its core conflict, including many unique ideas you can use in your own superheroes-in-trouble campaign!

I'd give this game 5 stars if the formatting had been more carefully edited. Still, I'd like to point out that this little game is incredibly robust. I've found very few situations, or concepts, I couldn't replicate with Adventurers! And when I couldn't, it was really easy to come up with ways to handle them because the internal game logic is clear and simple.

Adventurers! is quick, intuitive, and a lot of fun. Give this game a try. You won't be sorry you did. And with the full version available for free, you have no excuse.

"Tropicana" is a hundred pages long RPG setting written by Mauro Longo and Giuseppe Rotondo for the Savage Worlds ruleset. This books describes the metropolis of San José and gives plenty of gamemastering material. San José is an independent city-state of Latin America, clustered on a peinisula at the foot of an extinct volcano, the rest of the territory being an impenetrable jungle. Once founded by the Conquistadores under the name of "Nueva Zamora" (lol !), this former pirate outpost managed in the last decades to turn itself into a global hub of offshore finance and entertainment. Imagine Miami mixed with Monaco, Havana and Singapore. So, this is the perfect setting for all kinds of adventures, whether you like James Bond, Indiana Jones or Miami Vice; and I'm quite sure you can adapt it to any other universe, even fantasy, with a little imagination.

Chapter I gives a lengthy insight into San José's history, criminal groups and major factions. I especially liked the description of "El Banco" and of the services it can provide. No map - even a basic one - is given; this seems to be a tradition among Italian authors working for Gramel :-) OK, a map is not always required but here, since this book is about a sprawling city, a mere plan laying out the locations of the various quarters is indispensable in my view for the GM (so, I had to peruse the book for drawing my own...). Chapter II starts with the description of interesting archetypes : I do regret that many of them are not found back in the "Bestiary" of Chapter VII, especially when I see the good list of new edges and hindrances, which allows to turn many tropes of TV action series into (N)PCs. Chapters III, IV and V are respectively for Gear, Agencies (which you can run) and GM Setting Rules : most of those game mechanics are rudimentary but efficient and perfect for this kind of setting. I think I see the positive influence of U.Pignatelli there ("Beasts & Barbarians"), as for instance in the "After the Adventure Events table". Chapter VI is the Game Master's Guide with tables for Agency Management, Secrets, as well as plenty of advice for running adventures in San José, described as a mix of "Action, Adventure and Mystery".

In conclusion, "Tropicana" is the best and most interesting setting I have ever seen for a modern city; only its minor flaws - which could have been prevented in my opinion - keep me from giving it five stars. But if you're looking for a city of sea, sun, pleasure and intrigues, don't hesitate !

Dear Olivier, can you shoot me at piotr@fajnerpg.pl with flaws? We are working on Companion for Tropicana (will be on Indiegogo this spring/summer) and we will offer printed version of Tropicana with any corrections we can give.
Thanks in advance!

"The Justice of Kerir Shar" is a short adventure (14 pages + stats) by Umberto Pignatelli for Beasts & Barbarians. While travelling along the Lush Jungle, the heroes are drawn into a story of revenge between an exiled Syranthian judge and the evil sorcerer whose son he sentenced to death three years ago.
All the action takes place during one night and mainly consists of cinematic fighting scenes, with a few twists. Consequently, this mini-adventure is rather for tough warriors, though a sorcerer could have an opportunity to gain a (dangerous) item of power.....

"Garden of Death" is a 68 pages long campaign written by Umberto Pignatelli (+ 7 pages of stats and 16 pages of a Book of Lore on the Fallen Realm of Keron). Please be warned that this scenario requires that one of your playing characters is a skilled military leader.

Indeed, at the start of the adventure, the heroes are member of the military of Zura, and their task is to defeat the nomads raiding the caravans coming from and going to this Independent City. But the king of Zura shall give them soon a new mission : to bring back his deceased son from the Garden of Death, a very remote location in the haunted realm of Keron. The only person who can guide them there is.... the chief of the nomads whom they've recently captured... Will they come back safe from this place full of magics and dangers ?

Even if they do, messing with unlife and former foes isn't without consequences. The second part of the adventure ( which can be developped easily into a full fledged campaign) is truly grandiose and epic : old alliances are shuffled into new belligerents and our heroes can play the leading role there. Umberto exploits at its best the possibilities of B&B and the narrative elements of Sword & Sorcery (as is often the case in B&B, I just regret the lack of any map to visualize the main geographical features of the campaign area).

As for "Shadows over Ekul", I do believe this adventure would be fit for a movie scenario !

I fell in love with this product the moment I got it. Honestly this is the perhaps one of the best almost free Indie games out there. I never expected to find a set of rules, that was simple but could cover so much.
There's not reason NOT to have this book as part of your inventory.

"Soul in the Water" is a 20 pages (+ Stats) adventure by Umberto Pignatelli for (the new edition of) "Beasts & Barbarians". The first part of this adventure takes place at Jalizar : however (unlike "the Crying Mother"), this adventure can be played without "Jalizar, City of Thieves", or even (though "Jalizar" is an excellent setting I recommend) adapted with little imagination to any other seaside city if Jalizar doesn't meet the requirements of your ongoing campaign.
An old guy called Vanthar hires the heroes for a risky burglary : they have to retrieve some special item precious to him from the windowless mansion of Val Catha, a powerful sorcerer. Fortunately, this wizard shall be absent tonight, and will leave as usual his home to Wulf, his trusted warden. Wulf notoriously uses this free night for wenching at the "Headless Chicken" tavern. So, the plan is straightforward : a pretty female player (or some hired professional....) shall bait Wulf into a tavern's room, have him drink some drugged wine, and steal from him the entrance keys to Val Catha's home (all of this constitutes a very interesting role-playing scene !). Once Wulf slumbers into unconsciousness, the heroes have three hours to search through the mansion (GMs, be warned ! Once again,no map is given... surely you may need to draw one....), find the needed item, bring back the keys to Wulf before he wakes up - because the theft must be discovered as late as possible), and meet back Vanthar on his ship moored at the New Docks...
Straightforward... but easy ? It's up to the players to have the final word !

"Enyia's Song" is a 26 pages (+ Stats) adventure by Umberto Pignatelli for (the new edition of) Beasts & Barbarians. This time, the plot is simple but still efficient, and takes place at (and later near) Tal Vorak, a small fortified town close to the swampy deltas of the Elephant River (the border river between the Borderlands and Tricarnia). For a few weeks, a strange girl, who sings marvelously every evening - has been held prisoner in the tower of the local lord... and the heroes' task - on behalf of another lord - is to set her free !
They've just arrived in town and they must act quickly : tonight, the lord has left his castle to indulge his favorite passion : hunting in the marshlands. As nearly always in B&B modules, there is no map : the castle's locations are described in writing only, what is not practical for Gamemasters (nor infuriated players...), who will surely have to draw such a map before the gaming session.
In this small town, the girl's escape won't remain unnoticed for a long time... Be ready for ferocious chases !!!

"Trollhunt" is a 30 pages (+ Stats and a Book of Lore about Trolls and Troll Hunting) adventure by Umberto Pignatelli for (the newest edition of) Beasts & Barbarians. The players are riding in the mountains of the Northlands when they encounter a young dumb girl tied to a tree and whose head and breast are smeared with a disgusting blood-like mixture. Of course, the heroes set her free and they soon discover she was a sacrifice for a Troll. The neighbouring village-dwellers believe they can placate this way the Troll living in the glacier above their home, to prevent it from being crushed down by the ice-shell. The heroes' task will be both to save the life of the girl and to find what's behind that weird ritual. The Troll seems nearly invincible but an old maimed smith may have a clue.
This nice adventure reminds me - in terms of emotion - of "Citadel of the Winged Gods" : the heroes both have to care for a youngster and are faced with a unique supernatural creature - this time as an enemy. Though the primary focus of that adventure is fighting and survival, the interactions with other people - especially the smith - endow it with a bit of soul and make it a story that your players shall long remember.

I recently ran Gorillaconda for the players in my own Carribbean island paradise campaign. It's not the San Jose of Tropicana's setting, but similar enough in tone and details that it fit perfectly. I'd say this scenario is easily adaptable to most modern-day settings. There's just one slightly pulpy element that might not fit with totally realistic games, but this can be easily cut out without harming the overall plot.
The scenario is well written and has a simple but clever mystery plot behind it. It has a nice variety of challenge scenes, most of them not combat related.

The biggest problem is the PDF is so brief, it's really only the bare bones of a scenario outline.It doesn't go into the gritty details that you need to run a fully fleshed out session. For example, the bulk of the action takes place on a movie shoot. In real life, even small low budget film shoots have dozens of people doing various jobs, and in an RPG you're going to need plenty of NPCs for players to talk to, have suspicions about and make the setting seem real. Gorillaconda has 5 named NPCs... two of them are the villains, one of them is a victim and the other two are monkeys. Also there's no real discussion of what the players can do pro-actively, clues that can lead them to uncover what's going on. A GM running this should expect to do a bit of prep work fleshing things out in advance, or otherwise do an awful lot of improvising details during play.

When I ran this I pre-generated about a half dozen NPCs to populate the film crew - just names, descriptions and personalities. A couple of them had behaviours that made them possible suspects to distract the players from the real villains. I also broke down the various beats of the plot and worked out contingencies for player actions. It was enough to bring the adventure to life and keep the players engaged, and with a little bit of pace shifting in response to player actions the scenario ran its course successfully.

If you're looking for a fully detailed scenario ready to run straight from the book then you may well be disappointed with Gorillaconda. However if you look at it as an extended scenario seed to be fleshed out with your own details, it's a fun and original piece that would make an excellent one shot. There's lots of scope to adjust the tone depending on what you're after - dial up the absurdist elements for a light hearted romp, or dial up the strange and dangerous stuff for a more suspenseful/horror game.

This is was our first extended Savage Worlds Deluxe adventure; we've played other systems and other campaigns before, and a couple of SWD one-pagers. This was a lot of fun with exposure to many of the rules: mass battles, chases, and magic. PCs go from one set piece to another but each is interesting and the epic builds. I wish it had some scenes that were solved with thieving, fast-talking, puzzles, or other alternatives to combat, but my group loved it as it was. They loved the building sense of accomplishment as the story and mystery unfolded.

Technically, I wish the book had included a map and at the mention of any creature or NPC, the page number where they are described. The pages have a light gray background that didn't interfere with printing or legibility but were a waste of ink and printing time.

I wish it were paired with paper minis for optional purchase.

I recommend this to anyone who wants a straight-up swords and sorcery "epic movie" adventure.

"The Crying Mother" is a 36 pages long adventure (+ stats) by Umberto Pignatelli for "Beasts & Barbarians". It entirely takes place at Jalizar; of course, having "Jalizar : City of Thieves" is highly recommended, but it is not completely indispensable since - as is often the case in B&B - this adventure uses no map at all. If you have no other choice, you can tweak this scenario for another setting.

Our players are ruffians, and have to ambush and kill (for plunder !) a heartless pawnbroker of the neighbourhood. However, they get entangled into a wider plot where nightmares become even more dangerous than real (low-)life. They must act (and investigate) quickly if they want to break free from this impending doom.

Though limited to one city, this adventure shall provide enough stuff for several gaming sessions. It is perfect for heroes having urban skills and eager to accomplish thuggish exploits (well... not a quest for pure-hearted knights !)

"The Amulet of Dogskull" is an adventure of about 60 pages written by Umberto Pignatelli (+ stats, + a long description of Northeim) for "Beasts & Barbarians". At Fort Miscenium, on the border to Northeim, the players are hired to steal a precious jewel belonging to... the wife of the fort's commander. A chase through the wildlands of Northeim will follow.
One again, Umberto spins a tale where the adventurers are carried away into various situations, from dire dungeon crawls (in sewers or in a cairn) to survival in the wild among strange creatures. There is a glimpse of humour in the burglary scene that made me laugh. And, as in "The Citadel of the Winged Gods", emotion is present; needless to say then that this is an adventure worth trying (and giving you enough stuff for several evenings for less than 6 $ !), even if you are not fond of Sword & Sorcery.